Last Hope
by squish13
Summary: A Prince and Princess of mixed blood will decide their world's future. One fights for its destruction, the other for its salvation. What hope does the era of darkness have left? (First fanfic, whew)
1. Prologue

**Note: So this is my first fanfic EVER. Yays. A telling of our favorite Future of Despair with a little bit of a twist on it. I decided to not go into description about FeMU for the sake of letting her be whatever you chose. Word Count (1,214)**

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Prologue:

"Come my ally-versary! May our battle cries be such that cause even the mighty mountains to kneel to us!" The light-haired lad shouted to his "rival".

"Yeah, sure, Owain!" A blue-haired boy happily replied, earning a frown from his opponent. "Um… I mean…" The boy realized his blunder and settled with the obvious "Come at me o eternal rival!"

"Hah!" Owain proceeded to cover his face with his hand. "Let's see if you can handle Owain Dark's almighty power! RADIANT DAAAWWN!"

Robin looked on at her son and nephew as the two shouted out the names of their special moves. She couldn't help but admire the two for such creativity. She looked down at a young brunette clinging to her side. "So Noire…"

The young girl looked up to the tactician's eyes, replying with a "Huh?"

"Why don't I see you playing with Morgan or Owain anymore?" She said gesturing over to the two.

Noire buried her face into the woman's dress. "I-I can't. They make me be either the villain or the damsel in distress. I can't."

"Um, Robin!" Someone called out before a loud *THUMP*.

She turned around to see the pig-tailed girl, Cynthia, helping her father off the ground. "Henry? What are you doing here in Ylisstol?"

The white-haired Dark Mage finished picking himself up and dusted off his robes. "Ugh, sorry," he said, trying to cover his face. "And it's not Henry! Well, not exactly…"

The tactician's eyes narrowed. "Wait, Sumia?" She couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Sumia and Henry switching bodies yet AGAIN.

Sumia-Henry's face reddened. "S-Stop it!"

Robin tried to pull herself together. "Okay-okay." She let out a breath, finally gaining control of herself again. "So, I assume this is why you've brought Cynthia?"

"Yes." Sumia-Henry looked down at her-his daughter. "I'd rather Cynthia not have to deal with what I already have to put up with."

"Aww," her daughter let out. "Switching bodies sounded like so much fun though!"

"You know what else sounds like fun?" Sumia looked over to Morgan and Owain, then back to her daughter. "Playing with your friends over there."

"Mother!" Cynthia stomped her foot in defiance. "The Justice Cabal is not a game. It's an organization of only the greatest heroes! Me, Morgan, and Owain only! Not a game!" She stormed over to Noire and grabbed the poor girl's wrist. "Come on, Noire, we're going!"

"Well then." Robin said as she watched Cynthia try to drag Noire over to where the boys were.

"I was meaning to ask," Sumia said as she looked over to the four. "Where is Lucina? I haven't seen her anywhere."

"She's training with Chrom. The poor girl is either studying or training. I keep telling her she's gonna miss these days when she could've been with friends instead of only doing work. Naga knows I do." Robin thought back to her days in the Shepherds when she would sometimes spend days holed up in her tent, much to the detriment of her own health. "Sometimes I wonder if she ever knows when to take a break."

"Must've gotten that from her mother." The Exalt said as he wrapped his arms around his wife from behind. He looked up seeing Sumia-Henry with them as well. "When did Henry get here?" He only earned a glare back, which Chrom thought was very uncharacteristic as Henry was usually always wearing a grin.

"Milord!" Everyone turned to see a blue-armored Great Knight rushing over toward his Exalt.

"Frederick, what is it?" Chrom asked, not seeing his lieutenant in such a state for the longest time.

"Plegia, milord." Frederick pulled out a letter that was sealed with the mark of the Grimleal cult. Robin unconsciously rubbed the back of her right hand, which she always seemed to keep covered. "Needless to say, but I do not trust them, milord." He saw Sumia-Henry with them. "No offense, Sir Henry." Sumia flailed her arms around in frustration.

"Neither do I, Frederick the Wary." Chrom said as he took the letter from the knight. "Now let's see what this is all about." Chrom scanned over the letter. None of it seemed right to him. "Validar…" Chrom almost crumpled the letter but Robin managed to snatch it from his hands just in time.

"Sable?" Robin looked up from the letter to Chrom, who wore a worried expression. "Why now?" The world had been at peace since the Shepherds took down Walhart, putting an end to the expansion of Valm merely a decade ago. There was no real reason for Plegia to offer the final gemstone to Ylisse in this era of peace.

"I don't know, but this whole thing just seems to reek of betrayal," Chrom said to his wife who seemed to be looking over at the children. "Robin?"

It just didn't make sense. "I-I just can't shake this feeling that… we might not make it home this time around."

* * *

Validar was defeated. He fell to the ground as a purple mist enveloped his body. Chrom turned to Robin, proud of this victory over the Grimleal fanatic. It was too soon to celebrate. "This isn't over… Damn you BOTH!" Validar rose, eyes glowing red, as he used the rest of his power to unleash this desperate final attack.

Things seemed to slow for Robin as she pushed her beloved out of harm's way, taking the full force of the attack instead. She felt as if she was being ripped apart as the power of the spell pulsed through her body. Things seemed to turn white as she fell to the ground. Chrom rushed over to her side to aid her. "Are you all right?" He asked, helping her up. "That's the end of him." Both of them looked over to see nothing left of the Sorcerer except a purple mist where he had fallen.

"Thanks to you we carried the day," Chrom said as he looked back down to his tactician. "We can-" As Chrom carried on, Robin's head started pounding. Everything he said was muffled and her vision was turning red as she was being helped up. She was powerless as her body betrayed her, sending a bolt of electricity into the Exalt.

Chrom staggered away as Robin regained control of herself. She stared at the struggling Chrom, then at her own hand as the remnants of the spell lingered. She looked up to see Chrom as he spoke to her. "This is not your-your fault…" He choked out. "Promise me you'll escape from this place… Please, go…" The Exalt's legs finally gave out as he collapsed to the floor.

Robin backed away, horrified at what she had done. Though the man was now dead, she could still hear Validar's wicked laughter. The one who had given her meaning, Chrom, slain, by her own hand. There was no way she could return to Ylisstol. She would never be accepted by anyone again. There was nothing left for her now. Nothing.

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**Note: If you made it through, I thank thee. Like I said this is my first time writing fanfiction and it is a lot different than writing novels imo. I should mention, that Noire's father in this is Frederick which is why she's at the palace instead of with Tharja (though she's probably creeping on Avatar somewhere).**** So look for things to heat up in Chapter 1 of this altered telling of our favorite dark future. Also, Sumia :3 Review**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thank you everyone who read and/or reviewed the prologue there. I didn't expect as many people to read it as did. Please don't sacrifice me to Grima for this chapter. Enjoy. Word Count (1,421)**

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It had been weeks since the Shepherds had set out for Plegia. Surely they would have returned home by this point, but none had. A royal youth was unable to sleep this night and dearly wished for the return of their father and mother. The youth heard a commotion outside the room and ran over to the door to see what was going on.

A guard was trying his best to fend off a sword-wielding corpse. The guard managed to land a few blows on the monster, but they were not enough as these Risen did not feel pain and would not tire. Out of the corner of his eye, the guard saw the youth observing their fight and almost turned to tell the kid to get out of the area but this distraction cost the man his life as the Risen Mercenary brought its sword across the man's chest. He let out a howl of anguish before collapsing to the ground. The Risen's attention was now drawn to the youth that stood helplessly, petrified by the scene. The undead mercenary made its way over to the youth, drawing its sword back for a strike.

"Here's how it's done!" Rang a familiar voice as a blast of Arcthunder collided with the Risen, leaving nothing behind but a purple smoke. The owner of the voice stepped in front of the youth to draw attention away from the guard. She tilted the youth's chin up so that the child's attention would be to the adult in front of them.

"M-Mother?" The youth barely whispered out, coming to the realization of who this person was. The youth had a million questions prepared for their parents' arrival, but all of them left because of the new one. "W-What was that thing?"

Robin looked down at her child. The warm, caring face she always had around her children was now gone. "Risen. Grima's undead servants, they never feel pain, and neither do they show mercy." Robin placed her hand on her child's shoulder. "You don't have to fear them. Come."

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7 Years Later

At an old fort, overlooking one of the mountain passes between Plegia and Ylisse, a young Thief was searching for anything he could bring back to the New Shepherds. The thief had an unusually difficult time trying to slip past the Risen sentries. The heightened security meant that there was something or some_one_ very important at this fort. The thief had already searched many of the rooms in the fort that he expected the Grimleal to keep at least _some_ useful information. So far though, he hadn't found anything. The thief didn't know what he was expecting. He had risked his life to come here, and for what? To never see the last of his family or friends again.

He came up to a new door. He swore, if this one didn't have anything in it, he would just give up on this mission and return home. This room was different though. For starters, the door was locked, which he hadn't encountered anywhere else in the place. The thief glanced around to see if anyone was coming. The coast was clear. He bent down to pick the lock. After he was sure that he got it, the thief opened the door which opened with a loud _creak_. Once again, he looked around to make sure no one noticed the noise and was heading over; fortunately, there was nothing.

The thief stepped into the room, carefully closing the door behind him. He finally felt a little bit of relief, not much, but more than being out in the middle of a corridor where enemies could approach from either direction. The thief took a glance around the room to see what he had to work with here. He was hoping for a little more than this, but it was still more that what he had encountered earlier. There was a cot over by the right side of the room. Stacked against the wall opposite the door, was a variety of swords a books. Against the left stood a collapsible table, with a single candle on it, and a stool.

This was as good a time as any to get a closer look at everything. The thief headed over to the desk and lit the candle, hoping for some better light to sort through everything. The first place the thief checked was over by the cot. He hoped that whoever this belonged to would be hiding things there. Apparently not as he was unable to find anything of significance to his mission. Next, the thief headed over to the stack of books, hoping to see notes tucked away in the pages. He was honestly surprised to see so many in one place as most books had been destroyed by this point. Even tomes were becoming increasingly harder to find.

The thief started by picking up a fire tome that was on top of the stack. The thing seemed like it was ready to fall apart any moment which meant there weren't going to be many uses left in it. He'd give it five uses at best, so there wasn't much of a point to bring it back with him. He set the tome aside to pick up the next book. As the thief looked through, he noticed it was a book on tactics. A smile worked its way across his face as he could think of one person in particular who would absolutely love to see this.

The thief had run out of time in his search. He temporarily froze, hearing footsteps making their way toward the room. He dropped the book and hurried over to the candle to extinguish it. The thief tried to find a place to hide, hoping he could slip out when the opportunity came.

The door opened, and the Grimleal stepped inside. This figure wore a cloak over black armor, cowl covering his eyes. The person lifted his lantern, noticing the books that were out of place. He walked over to the desk and set the lantern down, noticing the candle had been recently used. "Methinks we have a visitor." The Dark Lord turned to see the thief trying to escape.

The thief had made note of all the passageways that he had taken on the way down. The man was glad he did because this meant he had an escape route ready. Though, he hoped he wouldn't have to use it. The thief tried to shake his pursuer by running through a few collapsed corridors. He looked behind to see if he had lost the dark lord at all. He didn't though, and looking behind cost him a little more ground. The dark lord was surprisingly agile and managed to keep up with the thief fairly easily.

The thief stumbled as he made his way out into the open. The mistake cost him as his pursuer caught up, tackling and pinning the thief to the ground. "Who sent you here? Where are they?"

"I- I don't know what you're talking about." The thief let out quickly.

"Don't lie to me!" The dark lord twisted the thief's arm. "One does not simply break into a Grimleal fort alone! Now tell me who sent you here and if there are any other rats that followed you here as well!"

Well, the thief did come alone, though his friends told him not to. He wasn't saying anything about the other Shepherds though. "Why should I tell you anything?" The thief turned his head and strained his eyes to look up at the dark lord. "I'm a dead man anyway."

"Very well." The dark lord pulled a knife from his belt and slit the thief's throat. "I have other ways for you to serve our Master." Once he was sure the thief was dead, the dark lord began to search the body for any messages the thief might have been carrying. The only thing of importance the dark lord managed to find was a map of the continent. "Curious." There had to be something hidden, but he wouldn't be able to do anything about this now.

The dark lord made his way back to his room, locking the door behind himself. The dark lord set the map down across his desk. Lowering his cowl, this "he" was revealed to be a _she_. The woman had cobalt hair and two brilliant blue eyes, the left of which, held none other than the Mark of Naga.

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**A/N: Mwahaha! So I guess this makes Morgan's role pretty clear. I did say this story had a bit of a "twist" to it. Also, I'd rather you not tell Chrom I did this to his daughter.**** If you have any questions about the story, feel free to PM me. Review.**

**(9/1) Most obvious error (in my eyes) has been fixed. I'm way too critical and couldn't leave it.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Once again, thanks to everyone that's keeping up with this. OC's are being added to the mix. Each of the sibling characters are gonna take their father's class. So the New Shepherds are standing at 16 instead of 12 right now, as reference. Enjoy. Word Count (1,303)**

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Chapter 2

The twin-tailed mercenary made her way back into camp, leaving her partner on watch duty. She didn't care though. The half-manakete could handle herself well enough and could easily make it back to camp if there were too many Risen.

She made her way over to the boys' tent. Since the New Shepherds split off before this journey, half in Ylisstol, half here, there should have been four in the tent, but there were only three. There was the green-haired philanderer, Inigo, all curled up with his blanket pulled over top his head. Then there was the half-taguel, Cedar. He looked more human-like than his brother, and was quite the Archer, just like his father. Finally, there was the cobalt-haired Tactician-Prince Morgan, using his mother's old coat as an extra blanket while clinging onto an Elfire tome and his father's legendary sword, the Falchion.

"Hey, Morgan! Wake up!" She shouted, sending everyone in the tent into a panic.

Inigo shot up, struggling to get the blanket off his head so that he could reach his Iron Sword. Cedar reached for the Beaststone that he kept for emergencies while Morgan sprang up drawing Falchion, nearly running Severa through. "Whaissut?" His eyes darted all over the tent and beyond Severa, to what was outside. "Risen?"

"No, you idiot!" Snapped Severa, staring down at the point of the legendary blade, which was only a few inches from her face. "Now put that thing away before you hurt someone!" She said, swatting the blade away. "Gawds."

"Huh?" Morgan looked down at the Falchion, then back to Severa. "Heh, sorry about that." He said while returning the legendary blade to its scabbard. "So what did you-" He noticed that Severa was alone. She shouldn't have been. "Hey! Where's Nah? You two are supposed to be on watch."

Severa only crossed her arms. "Well, Miss Manakete can handle herself for a while, can't she?"

"Severa…" Morgan took his hand and pulled it down across his face. "We pair off for a reason. No matter how strong we are as individuals, we are always better off as a team. Besides, what if she _does_ get hurt?"

"Then why did you let Mikel go?" She muttered to herself.

"Huh?" It was just audible enough for Morgan and the others to pick up. He turned to look at Inigo and Cedar. "Hey, uh… you two mind taking Nah's post for a bit?" He asked them.

Cedar nodded. "Of course." He picked up his Iron Bow and left the tent. Inigo couldn't resist giving Severa a smile. "Why of course, but I will be back for the fair lady when my time-" Severa glared at Inigo which definitely caused him to stop. He hurried out of the tent before she could do anything to him.

Morgan let out a sigh now that the other two were gone. "So what's this really- Ow!" Severa had just slapped him. Morgan brought a hand up to his cheek which was starting to turn red.

"Why did you let him go Morgan?!"

Morgan's eyes drifted to the ground. It had been nearly a week since Mikel left the group to go out on his own and Severa would still not let it go. "We've been over this dozens of times Severa. I didn't just _let_ your brother go. Why would I ever let anyone go off on their own?"

"Admit it, you let him leave! You let my little brother go out on his own, and I may never see him again because of you!" She noticed that Morgan was avoiding her gaze. Her words hurt. He really did try his best to convince Mikel not to go to Plegia. "Hello! Are you even paying attention?"

He looked up at Severa. It was a sight he didn't want to see from her again. Tears were forming in her eyes. He hadn't seen Severa like this since the news of her mother's death years ago. His heart hurt every time he had to see someone suffer like this. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to lose any more family members. "Believe me Severa. I did everything I could. Your brother chose his path. Let us just hope the gods return him to us safe."

"You better hope so, or you won't be." She said, sticking a finger at his chest.

* * *

The young royal woke up from his bed expecting another typical day at the palace. While the boy did miss his parents, he just knew that they would be back for him and Lucina any day now. After the boy completed his morning routine, he headed for his door, hoping to get an early start on the day's studies.

One of the last things the boy expected to see was Sir Frederick and his Uncle Vaike to be standing outside his door. It was a welcome surprise for the boy because it meant that his parents were going to be back as well. "Freddy, Uncle Vaike!"

The two turned around to see Morgan with his arms wide expecting a hug from one of them. "Heya, Squirt" Vaike said picking the boy up to give him that hug he wanted. "Glad to see the ol' Vaike back in one piece?" He said, ruffling the boy's cobalt hair.

"Sure am!" The excited boy reached up for a high-five from his uncle, which he got. "So, where are my parents? They are back, right?"

Vaike pulled back a little. "Well they're um… erm… they're…"

Frederick watched as Vaike stuttered, trying to avoid the lad's question. He could not stand this for much longer. The boy would find out sooner or later. He stopped Vaike from going on in circles. "The Exalt and his Queen… are not coming home, Prince Morgan."

The boy looked up at the Great Knight. "What?"

"Your father was betrayed by someone very close to him." The great knight explained, keeping eye contact with the boy.

Tears started forming in the boy's eyes. "But… Daddy's invincible…"

"I'm sorry."

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The New Shepherds had set out once again. As per usual, everyone was paired off for the march. Cedar was paired off with Inigo, for reasons concerning how Inigo got along with the women of the group, while Kjelle was paired off with Nah. Morgan was at the head of the group, partnered off with Gerome's younger sister, Aura. Aura, like her father, was a Wind Mage, yet people always said how much like her mother she looked. Severa though, stayed to the rear of the group, trying to avoid everyone after what had happened between her and Morgan earlier that morning. "She'll be over it."

"Huh?" Morgan looked to his left to see Aura looking right at him. "Oh, you mean Severa…"

"Don't beat yourself up Morgan. We won't last long without our leader." He looked down as she said this to him. "I know it must be a lot of pressure, but you manage to deal with all of it so well. It'll all work out. Now give us one of those typical "Morgan Smiles" that we all know and love."

He needed those words of support. The whole Severa ordeal had left him feeling drained. His head picked back up. "Heh, you always know what to say, don't you? Besides, we have some resistance groups to meet with."

"Gotcha. The "Morgan Smile" is back." She poked at Morgan's face, causing his grin to widen.

It took the group a few more hours of marching, and one small skirmish with Risen, before reaching their destination of the rebel camp. Morgan was able to explain to the sentries their reason for coming and were let right in, even earning a tour. Though their mission here was not yet over, they earned this opportunity to rest.

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**A/N: Thank you, if you made it this far. I'm probably gonna make these flashbacks a regular thing. Everyone enjoys backstory, right? And each chapter will switch between Lucina and Morgan, if it hasn't become apparent by this point. Be sure to leave a review. :D**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ahh, I love you all for your continued support. I'm sorry for being gone for awhile. Just started up college which had me not thinking about the story for awhile. Even with that, this was one of those chapters I just kept scrapping b/c I wasn't happy with how it was going. It happens. I'm finally happy with this one, and got it up before I could change my mind again. I'm way too critical of my work. Enjoy. Word Count (1,548)**

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Chapter 3

A young girl, just barely in her teens, was in her tent preparing for the upcoming battle. She was nervous, for this was to be her first. Of course she spent years studying combat, but had never been involved in a true duel herself. There were the years she had spent learning to wield a sword from first her father, and after the rise of Grima, sparring with the unfortunate Grimleal and expendable Risen. Now she was about to put these skills to the test.

The girl was just about done putting her armor on when she heard someone outside her tent. "Hey, kid, you done yet?"

"Just a moment." Lucina rushed to put up her blue hair and find the helmet that she seemed to have misplaced. '_Damn. Where'd I put it?'_ The girl searched all over her tent only to realize that it was right beside her cot the whole time. She didn't even know _why_ she had put the helmet there in the first place. She opened the flap of the tent to find a sorcerer looking down at her with his arms crossed. "Ready?"

"Hmph," The sorcerer kept his eyes fixed on the girl in front of him, wondering how the kid could have possibly survived and fight for the Fell Dragon. "You must be some sort of lucky to be here right now…" He started walking away and gestured for the girl to follow him. "So kid… How in Grima's name did you end up here?"

Lucina was never supposed to reveal any information about herself. In fact, she didn't even go by that name anymore. As far as everyone knew, the Princess of the Halidom had been dead for years. Slain by Risen during Grima's first assault on Ylisstol, so the story goes. "Let's just say, that our Master has plans for me…" She finally told him.

"I rather doubt that." The sorcerer said to himself. The sorcerer led the girl out of the Grimleal encampment to a point that overlooked a small town in the valley. "Look at them. Don't these people know that there is no place to hide from the Grimleal? Oh, if only they had converted. At least then, they would have given their lives willingly to please our Master."

"They'll sure be in for a rude awakening," Lucina said with a smirk. "When we attack…"

"Don't get ahead of yourself." The sorcerer looked at Lucina. "You won't last long. At sunup, the Risen will be sent in. The Grimleal will follow through afterward to mop up what's left."

"Why do the Grimleal wait 'til after?" She asked.

"Puh, because there were never many loyal Grimleal to begin with and sending us in would leave even less. Besides, the Risen are not selective about their victims. Very few are able to control those things. Best to keep a safe distance unless informed otherwise."

Normally, small bands of Risen would attack the random villages they happened to stumble upon, it caused enough chaos and the villagers were hardly prepared to deal with the threat of Risen. The Grimleal, on the other hand, were rarely involved unless it was against some sort of organized force.

/

The assault started at the break of dawn. The summoned Risen flocked down into the valley to start off the attack against the village. Though the town did have a few guards on watch, they were not prepared to deal with a force of this magnitude. The alarm sounded as those who could bear arms were called into duty to protect their home. The soldiers that defended the town were able to hold off the first waves of Risen easily. They would not last though, for the Risen kept coming and were steadily whittling away at the town's defenses. The soldiers were soon overwhelmed, morale dropped as the forces fell apart.

The Risen now had complete access to the town. Any person that got in their path was cut down on sight. Homes were burned, families had nowhere to run as doing so would leave them exposed. What choice did they have? To run and risk being caught by Risen or stay in their homes and die for certain?

The Risen had destroyed most of the town by this point. A couple Grimleal entered the town to mop up what was left. Lucina followed the sorcerer into what was left of the town. She knew that she would have to do this sort of thing eventually, but none of her training prepared her for this. Many buildings had collapsed and burned down, bodies lined the streets. Her stomach turned at the sight.

She bumped into the sorcerer that she was following, not paying attention as he came to a stop. There was a temple devoted to Naga, showing signs of damage, but still spared much of the destruction. "Wait here, kid." He said, putting a hand out in front of her. "There are probably survivors holed up in this building. Don't follow me."

Lucina watched as the sorcerer headed into the building alone. She couldn't believe she had to stay outside and wait. She could prove to that man that she really could handle herself in combat. She waited for a minute before the anxiety became too much. She had to prove herself.

She ran into the temple to see that the sorcerer had already taken care of many of the occupants. She heard someone yelling from her left and dashed out of the way to narrowly avoid being skewered by a bronze spear. Her assailant was just some kid, no younger than her, that looked like he had never picked up a weapon in his life. Though spears were effective weapons to use against swords, the kid was greatly outmatched. The kid thrusted his spear at Lucina, stumbling a little due to his poor stance. She easily managed to knock the spear out of his hands, in the same motion cutting across the kid's chest. It wasn't deep enough to end the kid right away, but he crumpled to the ground in agony from this injury. Lucina was ready to make the finishing blow, but she stopped. The kid was clutching at his chest, the look on his face froze Lucina in her place. She couldn't do it.

The sorcerer walked over to the petrified girl after finishing with the greatest threats. He looked right at her. "Well… are you going to end the child or not?" The sorcerer couldn't see her face, but he knew just what she was feeling. He had seen many fresh soldiers' faces just before their own weakness became their undoing. "No weakness, no mercy."

Lucina reluctantly let her blade pierce the kid's heart. She felt faint. It would become easier, she had been told. Is this what serving her mo-, Grima meant?

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The Dark Lord, Lucina, was at her desk, looking over the map she had found on the body of that thief a few days previously. She had uncovered hidden text on the document, but it was in code. She couldn't figure out what any of it meant.

There was a knock at her door. "General Lucian?"

Lucina lowered her voice to keep up with this month's persona. "What is it?" She asked. "If it's nothing important, then I don't want to-"

"Master Grima, sir." Lucina's eyes widened to find out that Grima's Avatar was here, at this very fort. "Our Master has requested your presence immediately."

Lucina threw open the door, nearly giving the informant a broken nose in the process. Her usual hood was up to cover most of her face. "Where?" She asked, impatiently awaiting an answer.

The Grimleal informant led her over to the area in the fort that Grima was waiting. Lucina let out a breath before entering Grima's presence. She knelt after entering the room. "Mo- Master Grima. You wished to see me?" Lucina could have slapped herself on the face for making such a blunder. Even after all these years, she still made the same mistake.

Grima turned and looked down at the girl from underneath her hood. "You may stand," Grima gestured for the girl to rise. "And please, take down that cowl. Don't you know it's rude to address your Master while covering your face?"

Lucina did as she was told and lowered her cowl, looking up at the being in front of her. "F-Forgive me Master, I was-"

Grima put up a hand for her to stop. "No need for all this stuttering. Now, what's this I hear about a map from the Shepherds you found?"

Lucina pulled out the map she had hastily stashed inside her cloak and handed it over to her Master. "I- Forgive me Master Grima, but I could not decipher the code. I-"

Grima lifted up her hand again before Lucina could keep going on. "Do not think on this child. Besides, I have a little task for you."

Lucina's head picked up a little hearing this news. "What do you wish me to do?"

"Your traitorous brother has left Ylisse with some of his Shepherds. They are only a few days east of this location. Cut them off before they bring any others back with them to Ylisstol."

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**A/N: "Holy backstory, Wyvern Man!" Honestly, I was on odds about what to do with Lucina in this chapter and backstory was better than anything else I could come up with (those poor trees :/ ), plus I needed to keep the chapter formula consistent and omitting the last portion wouldn't let the rest flow how I want it to. I promise you, the next chapter will balance out the sheer amount of "past stuffs" in this one. I gotta thank my little brother for when I watched his saber practice. I don't know if it came across well enough, but it helped me visualize the scene, and that's good enough. Please be sure to leave a Review, I love reading them. :D**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well, this one was sure a doozy. I have to admit, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. You'll probably hate me for it though. This one is probably the longest chapter I've written for a fic to date. I do hope you enjoy this one. Word Count (2,385)**

* * *

Chapter 4:

This resistance group was much too kind to the guests in their presence. Morgan and his New Shepherds hadn't felt this welcome anywhere since they were back home in Ylisstol. Morgan could only imagine how his friends were faring over there. Laurent was probably researching some sort of way to repel weaker Risen that caused panic; there were already Reeking Boxes, so there had to be something that created the opposite effect of that. He could also imagine Cynthia trying to convince the others to be a part of the Justice Cabal. He could also think of how Owain might be entertaining children in the city with his heroic tales. Morgan also thought back to his aunt, who was there as well. He could never understand how she was able to keep a cool head with everything that had happened. She lost all of her old friends to Grima and his followers, she had to deal with the antics of the New Shepherds, and yet, she was still able to keep that beacon of a smile that gave the citizens someone to look up to during what was the end of the world. These people he was bringing back wouldn't be in any better hands.

Speaking of whom, Morgan could see some children who seemed to be glued to Nah's side. He walked over to the group. "Why are your ears so funny?" He could hear many of the children asking her, trying to get at her ears.

Nah noticed Morgan approaching them and gave him a look that begged for his help. "All right everyone. Miss Manakete wants to be left alone." Nah only glared at him for his statement while the children all let out cries of disappointment. "Well, would you rather stay with this stick-in-the-mud here," he gestured to Nah, "or would you rather ride a bunny?" He pointed over to where Cedar sat, inspecting his bow.

The children all cheered out "_bunny_" as they ran over towards the half-taguel. "Stick-in-the-mud?" Nah said with an irritated look on her face.

"Heh," Morgan nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Well, for a dragonkin, you are rather serious…"

"WHAT?" Nah was about to pull out her dragonstone, Morgan could already see his life flash before his eyes so he got the hell out of there.

Morgan kept running, trying to reach a safe place to hide from the enraged manakete, '_safe'_ being a relative term considering what was going on in the world. Morgan couldn't tell if she was still chasing him or not but he didn't want to find out, that is, until he ran straight into the commander of the resistance group. "Agh! Sorry sir!"

"No need to apologize Prince Morgan," The commander said, picking himself off the ground. "Now please tell me what has you so worked up."

Morgan hated formalities, he was always taught to treat everyone like equals, and titles wouldn't allow for that. "Please, just Morgan, we've been over this before." Morgan looked back to where he had come from. "Nah."

"I'm sorry, if you don't want to say anything-"

He was cut off as a soldier ran over to the two. "Captain Xahrs! Risen! We've spotted Risen!"

"What? How many?"

The soldier led the two over to where the scouts had spotted the group of Risen moving in. Spotting them was easy in the wasteland they seemed to be moving through. "Gods, there are so many…" Morgan said to himself.

The captain turned to him. "Well, do you think a great tactician could handle them?"

Morgan wasn't so sure about this. "I'm really not that great." He said, bringing his hand through his hair. "Maybe, but we need to move, now."

The captain turned back to his soldier. "Go and warn everyone in the camp. Get the civilians to safety, tell every able-bodied soldier to pick up arms and prepare for battle." He turned back to Morgan. "Morgan, may we both make it out of this battle safely."

Morgan only gave a nod before he rushed off to warn his friends.

As Morgan made his way back through camp, he could see soldiers already preparing for the upcoming battle, and civilians being led out of camp toward the area everyone had agreed on for emergency evacuations. "Guys, guys!" He yelled out when he found his friends. When he reached the New Shepherds, they seemed to have already gotten word of the news.

"Risen, we know." Nah stated. "It's kind of hard not to pick up on when you hear a soldier running through the camp yelling "_to arms, to arms_"."

"Oh." Morgan cleared his throat and patted down his coat. "Of course." He looked over to the others who seemed to already be prepared. They all wore serious expressions, everyone knew what risks existed in their world. They all looked up to Morgan and would follow him to the ends of the world and back. He couldn't let them down.

"Aura, Cedar, stay back and provide long-range support! Nah, Inigo, up front with me and Kjelle! Severa…" He looked at the twin-tailed mercenary, who still hadn't let the last fight go. "Keep close, find someone to partner up with whenever you can."

* * *

Morgan sent a blast of Elfire out towards the Risen Warrior that was attacking Kjelle. The warrior turned to smoke, allowing the two to draw their attention to the other Risen around them. A mercenary charged Morgan, Kjelle blocked the attack, allowing Morgan to finish him off. Morgan trusted the others, but he still held the habit to divide his attention and check back on them from time to time. He looked over to Nah, who had just incinerated a Risen that came up from behind Inigo while he was occupied with getting past a knight's defenses. Morgan sent out another Elfire blast, destroying the knight that was giving Inigo so much trouble.

"Watch out!" Someone from behind him called out before a dark flier was hit with an arrow succeeded by a blast of Elwind. Morgan looked over to where Aura and Cedar stood back, sending out volleys of arrows and magic toward the flying Risen units. He'd have to thank them for that save later.

The group had advanced further, fighting in perfect harmony as they cut down more of the Risen. Morgan knew that each of these pairings would balance out the strengths and weaknesses of everyone in the group, and it seemed to be pretty effective to this point. Something seemed a little off as they progressed though. Morgan could've sworn that he saw more Risen being summoned. He couldn't think on that now though because Severa had somehow been pulled away from the rest of the group. He signaled for Kjelle to follow him as he made his way over to the orange-haired mercenary.

Severa seemed to be handling herself pretty well despite the fact that she was fighting alone. Most of the Risen she was holding off seemed to be knights. Even though they had the advantage of using spears against her, she still held the advantage in speed. She was doing well defending herself, until a Risen Thief made his way over to her. Severa saw the thief approach and was ready to bring down her sword, but something stopped her. Past his glowing eyes, she could still see the same face, same red hair, even the same sword as her younger brother. "Mikel…"

He brought down his sword, Severa just managing to get hers up in time to block the attack. It continued like that, Risen Mikel continuing on with his flurry of attacks, and Severa just barely blocking or dodging incoming strikes. She couldn't harm her brother, even if he was a Risen. "Severa!" She heard being called out by Morgan. When he came, Mikel would be finished off by his hands. He already let her brother go off on his own, and his death would surely be Morgan's fault if he destroyed this Risen.

Severa made the difficult choice and went on the offensive. Strike, parry, she found a rhythm and before she knew it, her strikes were landing against this Risen. With each hit against her brother, another piece of her heart shattered. Severa landed the final blow through her brother's heart. He coughed out a purple mist before the rest of his body disintegrated as well. Severa thought that her heart had steeled after the death of her parents, but losing the last member of her family, her baby brother, she gave in to tears. "_Mikel…_" She choked out before completely giving in to her emotions.

Morgan and Kjelle arrived to a broken down Severa, kneeling down next to what appeared to be her brother's sword. "Gods…" Morgan uttered upon seeing such a scene. Severa would be vulnerable like this. He and Kjelle already had to hold off Risen that were taking advantage of Severa's broken down state. He couldn't afford to lose anyone else. "Kjelle, I want you to protect Severa. Get her out of here as soon as you can." He gained a nod from the purple knight, who went to Severa's side, fending off any would-be attackers.

Morgan ran ahead, hoping to meet up with some resistance fighters. "Morgan!" He heard a familiar voice shout out.

Morgan noticed that the owner of the voice was none other than the resistance commander. "Xahrs! Am I glad to see you still alive!"

"I could say the same." A warrior approached the captain, but was easily knocked back by the old veteran. "Now, Morgan… Is it me, or does it seem like more of these things are being summoned?"

He was right. Before the Severa distraction, it was something Morgan was going to investigate so everyone could get through all of this faster. "No, it's not just you."

Looking through the lines of Risen, Morgan was able to spot two peculiar figures. A sorcerer, wielding a dark tome, who seemed to be summoning more Risen as the battle carried on. Beside him, was a figure of shorter stature, wearing a dark cloak over black armor, who seemed to be fighting with a particular skill of near sword mastery against the resistance soldiers that were so bold as to challenge him. "Over there!" He pointed out toward the two.

"Cut off the head and the rest will fall… Well, I haven't fought any Grimleal in the longest time." The captain stated. "Are you up to the task, boy?"

Morgan only gave the captain a nod before advancing on the two. He could never understand how anyone would fight for the Fell Dragon. Death, that's all that would come from their master. It angered him, because so many innocent people had to suffer. Morgan sent a blast of Elfire out at the two. It managed to knock back the sorcerer, and stunned the dark lord, allowing Morgan and Xahrs to separate the two.

Morgan had no doubt that the captain could handle the sorcerer, he did, however, doubt his own ability to handle the dark lord. Morgan's tactic would be to use magic, staying just out of the dark lord's reach. How long this would work though, he did not know. He had already depleted most of his tome's uses, and the dark lord had much superior speed, closing the distance between them on several occasions.

The Elfire tome Morgan was using finally ran out. The dark lord took advantage of this, bringing down his blade against the armless prince. Morgan just barely managed to roll to the side to avoid this attack, escaping the strike with only a minor knick to his shoulder. Morgan finally unsheathed the legendary blade, the Falchion, earlier hoping that he could have avoided close-combat with this enemy.

"I see you wield your father's blade." The hooded figure spoke upon seeing the sword in Morgan's hands. "Such a shame that such a legendary weapon would choose such pathetic-"

"You leave my father alone!" Morgan shouted out. Lost in a fit of rage, he slashed at the dark lord, his strikes easily deflected. With each insult the dark lord threw out about Morgan's family, each of his strikes became more and more savage.

The dark lord managed to twist the Falchion out of Morgan's grasp, knocking him down to the ground. "A tactician should know better than to let his emotions get the better of himself." He said, leveling his silver sword at his opponent on the ground. "Goodbye."

"Ragh!" Captain Xahrs knocked the dark lord away from the prince before he managed to finish the boy. He extended a hand out for Morgan to grab hold of, pulling the boy up. "I think this belongs to you." He picked up the Falchion and placed it in Morgan's hands.

Morgan gave a nod before turning to the dark lord, who had struggled to pick himself back up. "Checkmate." He stated. The sorcerer that had been summoning more Risen to the field now lay dead, and the dark lord was outnumbered by the two leaders. It didn't seem like he had any cards left to play.

"I'll admit defeat this time, Prince." The dark lord said while clinging on to what seemed to be a dislocated shoulder from the impact with Xahrs. "I look forward to the next time we meet on a battlefield, as we will meet again I'm sure. Farewell, for now…"

* * *

Morgan looked over the battlefield once the last of the Risen had been taken care of. Weapons dropped by some of the Risen, and the bodies of many brave men and women, littered the wasteland they had fought on. He could never get used to the sight of such aftermath.

"Morgan?"

He turned to see the owner of the voice. "Oh, Nah… Everything alright?"

"I could ask you the same question." She said. "Please, Morgan, I know Aura has told you the same thing before, but we can't fight if our leader gives in like this. Everyone knows the perils of going out there. Thanks to those soldiers' sacrifice, we can get these civilians to Ylisstol." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Remember that, okay."

"I have to thank you, all of you." He admitted, letting a smile make its way across his face.

* * *

**A/N: The pleasure I get from pitting siblings against each other. Mwahaha. So many cliches here.**

**There are always a few things that confuse me with this though:**

**A) Lissa being alive in the future: some convos from the game say she's alive, others say she's dead (she is alive in this)**

**B) Grima's gender: I know that the Japanese version refers to Grima being genderless, but having a FeMU makes it really confusing**

**C) Risen...**

**So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, you should have seen the wicked grin I had while writing it. Review! :D**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Achievement unlocked: THE BLOCK Oh man, did I have trouble with this chapter. As my little achievement suggests, I was stuck with the bane of creativity. Well I chiseled away at that over the course of these weeks. 3 hours every day, and this is all I could come up with. :( I still want to know how you think this chapter turned out. Enjoy. Word Count (1,030)**

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Chapter 5

"Are you paying attention?"

The young cobalt-haired princess had her head buried in her arms on the table. It was another history lesson. As usual, she would just sleep through the parts of the lesson that it seemed she had already heard a million times before. She studied all of this on her own before. Sitting through these lessons seemed pointless to her. She just hoped she didn't get another lecture.

"Lucina!" The tutor slammed his book close.

The girl jolted up in alarm from the sound. She sank down into her chair when meeting the eyes of her tutor. "I'm sorry." She squeaked out.

The man let out a sigh. "Lucina, one day you will be expected to lead the Ylissean people. Learning the history of our country and others, it's important. We must understand the past in order to prevent certain things from happening in the future and…" He looked down at the girl as she sank down as far as she could on the chair without falling off. "Maybe that's enough of the history lesson for today. Your parents would have more insight into this than I do. Maybe they can tell you of its importance."

"So… you're saying the lesson is over for the day?" She asked, eager to leave.

"Yes…" Lucina bolted off after hearing that. The tutor added in a quick _"Don't forget your readings!"_ before the girl was out of earshot.

Lucina raced down the halls of the palace. The young princess made her way to the courtyard, noticing her mother trying to teach her little brother how to cast magic. She stopped a ways back and decided to observe them. All she could remember was her own experience trying to cast magic. She was using a wind tome to start with, when she read out the incantation, she barely managed to produce a measly puff of air. Naturally, she was curious as to whether her brother would be successful or not.

Robin knelt down next to her son, handing him the wind tome they would use for practice. "Alright, Morgan, we've been practicing for a while now, and I think you're ready for this step." The boy gave a nod to his mother. "Do you see that tree, and the branch that looks like a Pegasus?" She pointed over to where she wanted her son to focus.

Morgan looked, but didn't know what his mother was talking about. "No, I don't…" He was repositioned to get a better look at where Robin was pointing. "Oh! Now I see it!"

"I want you to aim for that branch." She said, backing away from her son. "Now, remember what we talked about."

Morgan got into his stance. The little boy would easily be knocked back by his own spell if not for those lessons. He opened his tome, muttered the incantation, and successfully fired a blast of wind at the tree branch. "I got it!" He cheered, as Robin walked over and congratulated him.

Lucina couldn't believe that her brother was able to do such a thing. She still had yet to successfully use any sort of magic. He always had such natural talent for everything. It was unfair.

* * *

She had failed. The rebels had somehow seen the attack coming, and prepared. '_Plan for every possibility'_ she remembered her mother used to say. Well, someone sure let her own ego get in the way of that. She underestimated her opponent, and now she was the one on the run instead. Keep summoning Risen, well that worked out perfectly. She could have said that she felt sorry for her lieutenant, but that would have been a lie. She did seem to go through them rather quickly. She learned early on that attachments in this world were costly, and so, avoided making them.

Lucina's thoughts now drifted elsewhere. Grima. What would she have to endure when the Fell Dragon found out about her failure? Lucina knew that she had it easier than the other Grimleal. If only, for the fact that she was the child of Grima's Avatar, and therefore would have to continue the Fellblood line. It never provided her any comfort though. Grima was cruel and she could have to endure any punishment the dragon saw fit. The thought was unsettling.

Lucina finally stopped after travelling quite a distance. Whether this was Ylisse or the border again, she could not tell. Everything looked the same by this point. The same grey, ash-covered earth with the same dried trees and shrubs, the only color, being from the sky, ever stained crimson from fires beyond. Some days, she doubted Grima's promise of a new world rising from the ashes of the old one on this campaign. She would not let that show though, lest she be counted as a traitor to the Grimleal.

Lucina could hear what sounded like running water in the distance. The inside of her mouth felt like the deserts of Plegia itself, and whatever she was hearing only reminded her of just how parched she seemed to be. Approaching the source, she had appeared to be correct in her assumption. A fast flowing stream snaked its way through the valley. Lucina rushed over, kneeling down by the edge of its waters. By this point, she didn't care what was upstream or how clean the water was, all she cared for was satiating her thirst. She dipped her hands in and brought the water up to her mouth, letting the cool liquid make its way down her throat.

Her stomach growled, Lucina remembered the bear jerky she would always keep on the road when food was hard to come by. Her love for bear meat was something she inherited from her parents. Her parents… Lucina looked at the stream, remembering that Brand that she and her father shared. She turned her back on Naga long ago and nothing her brother, who so fought in the divine dragon's name, could do would change her faith now. He had sure grown in the years she'd been gone, then again, so had she. Maybe it was time for another visit to her old home.

* * *

**A/N: So how did I do? For the first part, I kinda wanted to explore the idea that Morgan's siblings would be jealous of him/her, b/c let's face it, Morgan is such a broken unit. As far as the second part, I really surprised myself. I wouldn't know what you all think of how I did though. **

**Be sure to leave a Review. :D**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: **

**I'm sorry about the delay in updating this. I'm sure you understand that there's this thing called school that I have to deal with. Anyway, I kept this chapter a little longer to make sure I polished it as best I could, so if you do find any mistakes, please tell me. As always, I hope that you enjoy. Word Count (1,462)**

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Chapter 6:

Finally, they had reached Ylisstol. The city walls stood tall and strong. Despite constant attacks from the Risen, they were still not ready to give. Naga, bless the brave soldiers who had died to protect one of mankind's last great strongholds against Grima's forces.

It seemed as though Morgan was bombarded by the surge of emotions the city walls brought him. These people he was escorting would be in no safer location. This was his home, it was something he swore he would protect. Morgan looked back, seeing the excitement on the faces of those who had not been to the capital before. It brought a smile to his face, knowing how much he had helped everyone.

When the group approached the city gates, a few guards, who were on watch, came up to the group. "Who approaches?" One of the guards asked.

Morgan made his way up to the front, followed by the rebel captain. "A group of refugees looking for a more permanent residence. Their homes have been destroyed by the Fell Dragon's forces. You must let them into the city." He looked over to the rebel captain that had been of so much help. "This resistance group has been so kind as to escort them here safely. Even I would have been dead if not for them. They should be given a place to stay for a while as well."

"I'd be more inclined to agree with you if I knew who you are." The guard said.

"Huh?" Morgan had a hard time believing the guard didn't recognize him. Then he realized, his hood was still up, meaning that most of his face was still covered. "Oh, I'm sorry, it just… I forget." He lowered his cowl for the guard to see who he really was.

The guard took a step back in surprise. All he needed to see was the Brand in the right of Morgan's mismatched eyes. "P-Prince Morgan, I- forgive me for not having recognized you. It's just…"

"No, no, I would have been wary of some cloaked traveler as well."

"Right," The guard nodded in agreement. "This resistance group, you offered them the choice to stay as well?"

Morgan was about to speak, but Xahrs cut in. "We would love to stay, but it is not possible."

Morgan looked up at the captain. "Why not?"

"Because there are more people like these." He gestured to the group of refugees. "You know that. And besides, we will be heading off to Plegia."

"_What_?" Morgan shouted in surprise at the captain's statement. "You can't go to Plegia! It's swarming with Risen, and the Grimleal are heavily concentrated there as well! _Why_ must you go?"

"Listen, Morgan. You're a good kid, and you'll make a fine ruler one day. This… is just something that needs to be done. I pray for the day that we cross paths again." With that, the captain took his men and headed off. Morgan was left with his Shepherds and the refugees that still needed to be taken into the city.

* * *

As silly as little Morgan could be, he was still a very smart kid. He was able to notice the change in behavior of his parents fairly quickly. Over the past week, he noticed the Shepherds packing supplies as if they were headed out on campaign again. He didn't want everyone to leave, but something told him that they would, and rather soon.

The day finally arrived for his parents and the rest of the Shepherds to head off. His father, in his Great Lord attire, and his mother, as a Grandmaster, were discussing plans for the road. Morgan ran up to his parents, clinging on to his mother's waist. "Don't go!" He cried out.

"Morgan…" Robin said as she and Chrom looked down at their son. Lucina came in as well, holding on to her father's hand. The older child had a look on her face, knowing just what was going on.

"Why do you have to leave?" Morgan asked, with eyes pleading for his parents to stay.

"Well," Robin leaned over to be on level with her son. "Morgan, there's a really bad man out there. He plans to… He could hurt your friends, the world… He needs to be stopped. Do you understand '_why_' now?" Morgan gave a nod to his mother.

"Lucina, Morgan?" Chrom came out with, getting the attention of his two children. "I want you to look after each other while your mother and I are away. Can you do that for us?" The two looked at each other, then back to their father, each agreeing to what he wanted them to do. "We'll be back soon. I promise."

It was a promise that would never be followed through with…

* * *

Ylisstol Palace, Morgan could officially say he was home now. At last, he would be able to see his friends' faces again.

Of course the first person they would run into would be Cynthia… or rather, the other way around. "Mori!" A cheerful voice shouted out before Morgan was knocked off his feet by the ecstatic pegasus knight.

"Cynthia… get off…" Morgan tried saying as the girl started squeezing the air out of him with a bear hug.

"Oh, sorry." The girl tried saying, helping Morgan to his feet. "So, how did the mission go?"

"It was a… success." He said, while rubbing the back of his head. Cynthia gave Morgan a look, wanting more of an answer, but he wanted to change the topic. "So, where is everyone? I haven't seen them in such a long time."

"Oh, yeah! They'll all wanna know how it went as well!" Cynthia took Morgan's hand and dragged him off toward the others.

Cynthia led the group out to the training grounds where Owain, standing on an old crate, seemed to be making a show of himself in front of the other Shepherds again. "- each weapon is unique and it is our duty to imbue them with a name that fits, carving its title into its very being. This in turn will help us create bonds with our partner, and truly become one."

"Gee, Owain, it's not like you're _marrying_ the thing, or maybe…" Inigo cut in, drawing attention to the group that had just arrived.

"_Well, it's good to know someone's back. It's not like you ever understand anyway_." Owain muttered to himself as the other Shepherds surrounded those who had just returned.

Owain picked out a mass of blue hair, identifying it as his cousin, among the returning Shepherds and approached the lad. "Fellow scion of legends, how fared thee on such perilous a quest? As a fellow member of the Justice Cabal, and mighty Owain Dark's cousin, _surely_ you have many a tale to be told from this journey?"

"I do, but I kind of wanted to wait for…"

Right on cue, a woman with long, golden hair stormed over, looking for "_Owain_…"

"Gah," Owain turned around to the horror of seeing the woman looking for him. "_Mother_?"

Lissa came to a stop right in front of her son, arms crossed, looking him directly in the eyes. "Now what's this I hear from the soldiers about a certain _someone _taking over the training grounds to give some sort of elaborate speech about '_bonding with your weapon_'?"

"Well, I, uh…" Owain remembered his cousin, who was standing right there. "Hey, look, Morgan's back!" He said, bringing his cousin into the middle of the mess that he created.

"Hi, Aunt Lissa," the tactician nervously said. "How have things been while I was away?"

"Oh, welcome back Morgan. Things have been well. Now, tell me all about your journey." Before Owain thought he was off the hook, his mother shot him a glare that told him she wasn't done with him quite yet.

Morgan explained what happened during his group's mission. He covered everything from the journey including Mikel's fate and the run-in they had with those two Grimleal. Of course he made sure to mention the rebel group they had travelled with while they were escorting the refugees to Ylisstol. Those rebels had really grown on Morgan and to say he was sad about hearing of them head off to a place as perilous as Plegia would be an understatement.

"Well," Lissa said, "you certainly had an eventful journey… I understand how you feel about this group heading off to Plegia, but we have other concerns. Thank you for telling me everything." She let her nephew head off to talk with the others. Meanwhile, Owain was trying to sneak away from his mother, hoping she wouldn't notice his disappearance. "And just _where _do you think _you're_ going? I still never got an answer from before."

* * *

**A/N: **

**I enjoyed writing the reunion scene here. I'm still not comfortable with writing Owain though, don't know how you all felt I did with him. I can't tell you how much I've been wanting to introduce Future!Lissa to this story, and now she's finally here. As always, your reviews are what give me the drive to keep up with this. So please, Review.**

**Edit (10/8): Oops, forgot to add in breaks, Fixed**

**Edit: (10/31): Bit of Robin's speech phrased a little weirdly. Let's hope this works a little better.**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: **

**Hello again, my fair readers. I must say, the delay in this chapter was laziness more than anything else. I'm truly sorry about that. Yes I did get Pokemon Y, but not until 3 days before this chapter update. ...Yeah, so don't blame it on that. Lucina's made it to Ylisstol in this chapter. Yes, this whole chapter was planned out, and I feel kind of like I'm fixing the mistakes I may have made in Chapter 5 (Author self-doubt). Enough rant. R&R Enjoy. Word Count (1,409)**

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Chapter 7:

Lucina had managed to make it into Ylisstol without detection by the city's guards. Much about the city had changed in the period she had been away. Ylisstol had become overcrowded due to the influx of refugees from all over the continent, since the rise of Grima.

She was able to use this to her advantage, avoiding guards. She was just another face among the masses. Well, she did still keep her face hidden. The Brand in her left eye would be much too recognizable. The guards paid the traveler in this mass no heed.

The crowd on the main roads worked for a little while, but it was unpractical for her needs. Lucina would never be able to make it up to the palace by following the flow of traffic along the main streets for long. She needed more freedom to move about, but she couldn't do that with so many people about. She decided to head into the alleys for an approach that would allow her to move a little more freely. Such relief in being able to move around as she wanted. She would have to be more careful in avoiding the guards' gazes though. She was earning a few glances from the average passerby already. Best to move on before anything started.

Lucina wound her way through the cramped and shadowy alleys of the residential districts of Ylisstol. Progress toward the palace would be slow, but at least she was keeping to her element. She much preferred obscurity to the spotlight. Since Grima came to her, she had come to realize how childish she had been back when she was Princess of Ylisse. She was glad the title was gone, and would like it to stay that way.

As Lucina made her way through Ylisstol, she did not expect to run into a certain irritable Feroxi. "'Ey, you." The man called out, with a thick accent, as Lucina approached.

She looked up at the man. Dark-skinned, he had a distinct scar that ran along the right side of his jaw, among others across the rest of his body. He was built like a tree. Tall, with thick muscles. The man had mismatched eyes, one of dark brown, another which was clouded over. They bore down into this mysterious traveler in front of him. Not that Lucina was intimidated by the man. She had faced worse in her time, much worse.

Lucina could imagine that this man was much more brawn than brain. Why else would he try to instigate something with this stranger? Well, this man wouldn't last long if he didn't know what was good for him. "_Me_?" She finally said.

"Yes,_ you_. D'ya see an'one else 'ere?" He gestured all around them. Not much light made it into the area they were. What Lucina could tell though, it was just the two of them. Not many people would be travelling around in these back alleys. Especially not when most people dumped, well…

"_Your_ alley?" She commented, raising an eyebrow. As if the man could see it.

"Yeah. _My alley_!" He pointed his index finger at her chest. "An' ye better git, if ya know what's good fer ya." The man was coldly glaring down at her.

There was still no way she would move for this brute. "If you would let me pass, maybe I'd-" The man shoved her back as she tried to move past him. "I would not do that again. You may not live to regret it."

"Oh, really?" The man shoved her back again, but this time, she wouldn't give him another chance.

The brute swung his arm at her, Lucina easily managing to back out of the way. The next attack came, to which she swiftly ducked under. His attacks were slow, but Lucina knew that one hit would most likely knock her unconscious. She reached over to her belt looking for her blade. Unfortunately, she lost it. When this happened, she had no clue.

The man came with another punch while she was distracted. There wasn't as much power put behind this blow as the others, she had avoided earlier, but there was still enough force to knock her straight to the ground. Dazed, she watched as the man picked her right off the ground, and held her in the air before him. "See whut 'appens when ye mess with me, _kid_."

Lucina struggled as she reached for one of her boots. She just barely managed to pull out a knife she kept stashed away. She sent it right into the man's arm, causing him to finally let her go. She couldn't just leave this man though. No, he would pay. She followed by stabbing his leg, then his stomach, she kept on with this flurry, even after he stopped breathing.

Lucina stepped back, taking in the broken figure she had left here in this alley. He deserved everything. By refusing passage and assaulting her, he had insulted Grima. Well, Lucina would gladly deliver judgment for her master. Now, his soul was bound for the Fell Dragon, itself.

Voices sounded some ways away. "Hey, did you hear that?"

It caught Lucina by surprise. She preferred ending things cleanly, but if she was caught here… with only a small knife to defend herself… Even if the Ylisseans didn't kill her, which they likely would, Grima would be the one to do so.

She stashed the knife back in her boot and took off as fast as she could. The guards could not catch her. She needed to live.

Lucina stopped running, hiding behind some shop, after feeling like she was a safe distance away from the event. She took a moment to look down at herself. How long had she been wearing this armor? She had collected so much grime during her travels. The blood of that brute now joined all the rest. How many people had she killed in this armor? Well, she did change identities each month.

Lucina looked up to see the inner walls of the city, surrounding Palace Ylisse. She was so close, yet so far. Of course she had gotten into the town rather easily, but how could she get into the palace?

* * *

A young princess was wandering around the palace grounds, looking for her little brother, while they played a game. She had made it out to palace courtyard, suspecting the boy would try to hide out there, despite their rules of staying to specific wings at a time. It felt like _forever_ to the young girl and she was tired of searching for him any longer. Why did she even play these games with him anyway? He always cheated!

"_Morgan_!" Lucina cried out. "I know you're out here, and I'm _so_ tired of Hide and Seek right now."

A giggle came out from behind some bushes, and a familiar blue mop stuck out from the green of all the leaves. The rest of the prince's head emerged, and he held his playful smile as he looked back at his older sister. "Haha, I gotcha good!"

Lucina let out a groan, frustrated, thanks to her brother, once more. "You _cheated_ though." The girl crossed her arms. She would not play the same game again that day, no matter how much her brother pleaded.

"There you two are." It was their father. He put a hand on Lucina's head, as he always would. "You two playing another game? Would you mind if I joined?"

Well, Lucina wouldn't mind playing more if her father joined. "Yeah, sure Daddy!" Morgan came out with, so excited, that when he ran over, he tripped over some tree branches. Chrom ran over to help his youngest up. Lucina followed closely behind. "Hey Daddy, what's that?" He said, pointing over to some hole in the wall that was covered very well, except from their vantage.

"Well, um…" Chrom nervously put a hand up to scratch the back of his head. "I uh… Let's just say it was a training accident with some of the other Shephers. You know how easily _I _break things." He gave out a nervous chuckle.

"Does Momma know about it?" Lucina asked.

He held his two children close and whispered to the both of them, _"Let's just keep this between us three, alright? Our little secret._"

Lucina and Morgan both gave their father a nod. It would be just the three of them.

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**A/N:**

**Well, we don't want to mess with Lucina...**

**After I finished with this chapter, I wanted to say/ask/whatever: How did Donnel get his scar? It may seem unrelated, but describing that one guy in this chapter just put that thought in my head.**

**Okay, so there's Chapter 7 for you. This was originally going to be much longer, but I had an easier time splitting the (let's call it "Spy") chapters up and putting it in both perspectives.**

**So, with that, I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter here. Be sure to leave a Review. This is Squish, bidding you a good day. :D**

**Edit (10/30): Repetition. Varied that section a little better.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N:**

**Hello my lovely readers! Let's call this Part II of the "Spy" chapters. Hmm... I hope you can guess what will happen before delving into this. After getting enough advice, and reviews on my other stories, I decided to try something a little different. I honestly hope it shows, though I did keep the basis of my "style". Innovators are barely recognized in their time, and that's what I view _this_ fanfic as. I'm blazing the trail for others! Ahem... As always R&R. Enjoy! Word Count (1,596)**

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Chapter 8:

The tactician-prince had settled down in the library that night. It was great to be back home, with his friends once more, but there was something that he just couldn't seem to get off his mind. Well, Morgan would always read when he was upset. His aunt would often tell him about how alike he and his mother were.

He had quite the name to live up to. Prince Morgan, brother of Princess Lucina, son of Exalt Chrom and Grandmaster Tactician of Ylisse, Robin. No pressure on him at all… His parents only defeated Plegia's Mad King Gangrel, _and_ toppled the Valmese Empire, saving the world from its expansion. The Fell Dragon though… if the task was too great for them, what chance did _he_ have? His parents probably could have defeated Grima, were they not caught so off guard, as Aunt Lissa often put it. He was the only one of the Exalted Bloodline left who could possibly perform the Awakening ritual. How could _he_, of all people, be the last hope left for humanity?

Morgan closed the book he had been reading. It was an old text, detailing the journeys of Mark, a tactician Morgan had always been quite fascinated by. It brought back old memories of the times that he and his mother would share, studying. He missed his family. Sure, he would always put on a smile around his friends, but a storm raged inside. He wished there was some way he could see them again. His mother and father never came back from campaign. They promised… He only learned about the tragedy from other Shepherds before _they_ ended up falling to Grima's forces as well. Then, his sister just vanished. Everyone spent days looking for her, after those Risen attacked the palace, when he was younger. She was never found though, and presumed dead. His aunt and cousin were still around for him, but it just wasn't enough. He needed _his_ family. It was just too much.

Morgan moved the text aside, clearing the way for new material on his desk. The next piece was much closer to his heart, in more ways than one. Morgan reached into one of his coat's inner pockets and pulled out a new text, a book, bound in leather, faded, and pages worn. Clearly, whoever owned this piece favored it very much. Morgan set down the book, opening it, to reveal that it was a text on strategy. The previous owner had scrawled many notes in the margins, and many fold marks were quite visible on the corners of the pages. This was the last thing Morgan's mother had given him before she left with his father to Plegia. All these scribbles in the margins belonged to her.

It was… one of the few things he had left of her. Morgan wished he could say the same about his father. All he had left of his father was the legendary blade, passed down in their bloodline, and a crumbling Ylisse. He had nothing left of his sister though. Her room stood, untouched. He wondered how long the palace would stand. Morgan often worried that he would lose the image of her face, in his mind. The same could be said for his parents. He couldn't lose them again.

Morgan looked down at the pages of his mother's strategy book once more. He let himself get lost in the pages as he always would. In reading, Morgan could find an escape.

* * *

The prince's eyes slowly drifted open. He had… fallen asleep? Morgan groggily picked his head up from his pillow of a table. He looked back down at the table, noticing a small puddle where his head once rested. He proceeded to wipe that away with his sleeve. He rubbed away the trail of drool, which trailed its way from the corner of his mouth, across his cheek.

The candle which stood at the end of his desk was sputtering as it reached its last minutes. At least he kept his readings in a somewhat decent order. Well, except for the text he had fallen asleep on. He closed the item, setting it upon the stack he seemed to have created that night.

Morgan let out a mighty yawn, rubbing his eyes, trying to get rid of the tired. He stretched out, in an attempt to wake his nerves. It did some good. He might as well get up. He could always fix things up later. No one came to the library any more. There were… much more important matters at the moment. The prince shifted out of his seat and stretched once more, with another great yawn. He set his hand on the back of his chair to push it back into place under the desk. He hesitated though. He couldn't place it, but there was something about the air that just seemed off. He… wasn't alone.

Morgan's eyes darted all over the area to find _whatever_ had joined him. Damn this light! He could barely see a thing. Why did he have to fall asleep here? All he was able to see were the shelves, full of musty old books, which surrounded him. He did, eventually, pick something out from the rest. It seemed to be the silhouette of some cloaked figure in armor, just barely taller than himself. Morgan squinted at the figure, trying to make sure this wasn't some trick of the light. "Hello?" He just barely whispered out, nervous due to the figure in front of him.

The character stepped closer to Morgan, finally allowing the prince to figure out who this could be. "Why, hello, Prince." The figure said with a bow meant only to tease him.

Morgan's eyes scanned over the figure in front of him. Now that he wasn't in combat, he could take his time to analyze this person. It was definitely the Grimleal he had fought when he was escorting that last group of refugees here to Ylisstol. He noticed that when this figure spoke, the voice was particularly feminine. It seemed like this person was trying to deepen "his" voice, but it was still too recognizable. He also took note of the fact that this figure had lost the sword that he used when fighting Morgan. Morgan would have figured the Grimleal would know better than to lose something like that. He bit his lip, still unnerved by the figure in his presence. "Um… who are you?" The cobalt haired prince, finally asked.

The figure let out a smirk after hearing this comment. Obviously something about Morgan's inquiry amused him. "I go by many names, dear prince," The Grimleal said. "For now, you may call me Lucian."

"Lucian…" Something about this seemed odd to Morgan, though he couldn't place why. "What are you doing here in Ylisstol, Lucian?"

The dark lord let out a small chuckle. "What _am_ I doing here, indeed? I am Grimleal, of course." The dark lord said with a gesture to himself. "Isn't my purpose here obvious enough?"

Morgan kept his thumb pressed up against his chin, as he would often do, in thought. He wished he could see the dark lord's face. Even though it was obscured, Morgan still could pick up that something wasn't quite right about this. "No, it isn't." He said. "Something tells me, you have another reason for being here." He saw the smug grin on the dark lord's face disappear. He was onto something. "Tell me, _why_ do you serve Grima?"

"Naga abandoned me." The dark lord stated, without hesitation. Morgan didn't know what to say to this. _Why_ would Naga possibly abandon someone? It… didn't make sense. "Yes, I know it's hard for you to wrap your mind around, Prince, but your so-called "divine dragon" left me. Naga _never _came to me when I needed her most, but _Grima_ did. The god that you call the "fell dragon", has a vision for this world. _I _was one of those hand-picked by Grima. There will be a new world-"

"I can't believe it." Morgan barely whispered out. The smug look on the dark lord's face returned once more, but as he opened his mouth to speak once more, Morgan interrupted again. "You… Do you really believe anything that dragon has told you? Don't you see that _you're_ as disposable to the Fell Dragon as _Risen_? He doesn't care!"

Morgan could see this _Lucian's_ fists and jaw clench. "You're wrong." He said through grating teeth.

"_How_ am I wrong?" Morgan asked. His eyes bore right into the dark lord, hoping he could get more of a reaction out of this Grimleal.

"I-" As the dark lord was about to speak once more, archaic sigils appeared around him. He disappeared in a bright flash of blue, Morgan reeling back from this shock to his senses.

Morgan didn't know what to say. It appeared as if the dark lord was _going_ to answer. Now, he was gone. Someone else _had_ to be involved here.

Morgan scratched his head, wondering who the caster of this warp was. He just couldn't wrap his brain around this one. He was too tired. He looked back to his desk once more, pushing in the chair he had meant to, earlier. He picked the nearly dead candle up, hoping he wouldn't drip any hot wax on himself. Maybe he'd be able to figure this out after he had gotten some proper rest. The prince proceeded up to his room, the events of this night's encounter, still very fresh in his mind.

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**A/N:**

**What do I say about this? Well, _is _this different? I want to know these things. I can only improve. Also I kept this the whole day to keep polishing. I really hope I buffed out all the grammatical mistakes. Call me a grammar perfectionist...**

**So, yes... Morgan and Lucina! In the same chapter, and not fighting! WHAT?! Yes, well, things are getting a little more interesting... **

**I hope you enjoyed! Please be sure to leave a REVIEW! This is Squish, bidding you a good day! :D**


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